Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a typical permanent magnet (PM) machine according to the prior art is shown at 100. Prior art PM machine 100 has a rotor 102, with permanent magnets 104 mounted thereto by a retaining ring 106, which is mounted on a rotatable shaft 108. Rotor 102 is adjacent a stator 110 having a plurality of windings 112 interspersed between a plurality of teeth 114 mounted to a back iron 116. (For ease of illustration, the adjacent elements of windings 112 in FIG. 1B are shown unconnected.) As is well understood, PM machine 100 may operate in a generator/alternator mode or a motor mode. When operated in a generator/alternator mode, an external torque source forces rotation of the shaft (and thus the rotor and the magnets), and the interaction of the magnets and the windings causes a magnetic flux to loop the windings in the slots. As the rotor rotates, the magnetic flux in the stator structure changes, and this changing flux results in generation of voltage in the windings, which results in an output current that can be used to power electrical devices, or be stored for later use. When operated in a motor mode, a voltage from an external source is applied to the stator windings which causes current flow in the windings and results in a magnetic flux to be set up in the magnetic circuit formed by the teeth and back iron. When current is supplied in an appropriate manner to the windings, the rotor can be made to rotate and thus produce usable torque. The operation of such machines is thus well understood.
Such PM machines can have an “inside rotor” configuration as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, or an “outside rotor” configuration as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B. The reference numerals in FIGS. 2A and 2B correspond to the corresponding features described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. In the “outside rotor” configuration, however, rotor yoke 108′ replaces rotor shaft 108. For ease of illustration, the adjacent elements of the windings in FIG. 2B are also shown unconnected.
Irrespective of whether operated in an alternator or motor mode, the magnetic flux path in these prior art PM machines is as partially and simply depicted in FIG. 3, the flux path as indicated by the arrows 118, and the poles and virtual poles denoted by an “N” or an “S”. It is this magnetic flux 118 which induces a voltage in the alternator winding 112 (or in the case of a motor, creates the magnetic attraction with the permanent magnet 106 to cause rotor rotation), as described above.
Prior art PM machines (and particularly PM alternators) suffer from at least two limitations which has limited their usefulness somewhat, namely: (1) the output of the PM alternator may only be controlled within the machine (i.e. varied) by varying the rotor speed (assuming a fixed geometry machine), and (2) if a short circuit or other internal fault occurs in the machine, the internal fault current can become extremely destructive to the machine, particularly in high power applications. With reference to the first drawback, this intrinsic feature particularly limits the usefulness of a PM generator in circumstances where the rotor rotation speed cannot be independently controlled. It would therefore be desirable to improve the controllability of PM machines, generally.
PM machines offer certain attractive advantages for use in high speed applications, and particularly as an integrated starter-generator (ISG) for a propulsive or prime-mover gas turbine engine, in which the PM machine is mounted directly to a turbine shaft of the engine. This shaft, of course, is driven at whatever speed is required for the running of the gas turbine engine (typically anywhere in the range of 0-50,000 rpm) and thus the shaft speed cannot be varied to suit the controllability limitations of the PM machine, but rather is dictated by the mechanical output requirements of the engine. Therefore, although the ISG designer will know the average steady state speed of the turbine shaft at cruise, can thus design an PM alternator system to provide sufficient electrical output necessary to power the aircraft systems at cruise (where the engine typically spends most of its operation cycle), accommodations must be made for take-off (where the turbine shaft may be turning at twice cruise speed, doubling alternator output) and landing approach (where turbine shaft speed may be half of cruise speed, halving alternator output). The problem is an order of magnitude greater for certain military applications, where cruise speed is rarely maintained for any length of time. The prior art therefore poses optimization problems to the ISG designer, where critical over-power and under-power scenarios must be managed to achieve a satisfactory design.
There are other drawbacks inherent prior art designs, which result in complicated mechanisms and fabrication techniques. U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,504 to Nygren et al. shows one example of a relatively complicated solution to the control of certain aspects of the operation of a PM machine used in high voltage power generator applications. The device offers only limited control over operation of the machine, and its complexity makes it unsuitable for higher reliability and lighter weight applications such as, for example, aircraft applications.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved PM machine which addresses these and other limitations of the prior art, and it is an object of this invention to do so.